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KIRSTEN SKOU - IMO 5424445

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Photographer:
Rick Vince [ View profile ]
Photo Category:
Ship's Deck
Added:
Feb 7, 2021
Views:
2,045
Image Resolution:
3,998 x 2,597

Description:

Circa 1966, unknown location at sea.

A view from the port side of the forecastle / fo'c's'le, looking aft.

Launched on 11/09/1963 and completed during January 1964 by Nakskov Skibsværft, Nakskov, Denmark (171)
6,457 g.t. and 8,950 dwt (as built), as:
'Kirsten Skou' to 1978,
'Lydia' to 1986 and
'Aranco 1' until sold to Bangladesh for demolition.
Arrived Chittagong on 13/07/1987.

Scanned from a slide.

From the collection of the late Niels Anker Larsen, former Danish Merchant Navy Radio Officer.

Vessel
particulars

Current name:
ARANCO I

Former name(s):

 -  Lydia (Until 1986)

 -  Kirsten Skou (Until 1978)

Vessel Type:
General Cargo
Gross tonnage:
6,186 tons
Summer DWT:
9,094 tons

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Categories

This ship exists in the following categories:

Ship Interior - 1 photos

Storm Pictures - 1 photos

Ship's Deck - 4 photos

General cargo ships built 1960-1969 (Over 3000gt) - 10 photos

Photographers
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(9)

COMMENT THIS PHOTO(20)

Newest First
person
Moin Volker, haha, you 'deserved' it!
Have a good day, freundliche grüße,
Rick

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comment

person
Thanks for that interesting info P.F. Kerr.
This is the first I have heard of a Port Line charter for her.
It may well be the answer.
As yet, I have not come across any slides of NZ. If I do, that will be additional evidence. I will notify on here, if I do.
Thanks once again for your research, much appreciated.
Rick

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person
I sowed the wind and reaped the storm!!

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person
Extracts from "Evening Star" newspaper, Dunedin, New Zealand. 21/4/1965:
Launched:11/9/1963. Went on trials:28/1/1964
Designed to carry 8,500 tons d.w. as a closed shelter decker, or 7,000 d.w tons open condition.
Gross tonnage: 6,457 closed or 4,259 open.
Length b.p.:118.9m. Breadth: 17.2m
Machinery: 6 cylinder B. and W. diesel.
Service speed:16 knots.
Cargo handling: 12 5-ton and 4 10-ton derricks. Two heavy lift derricks, one forward one aft, each handling 25 tons. All winches electrically operated.
Her radio equipment is powerful enough to reach Denmark from anywhere in the world.
"A Port Line charter has brought the vessel to New Zealand with general cargo, potash and basic slag, on her current voyage". (This may explain the funnel colours, which correspond to the Port Line).

"The master of the present Kirsten Skou, Captain E. Bantz visited New Zealand as an officer in the former Kirsten Skou, more than a decade ago".
The former "KIRSTEN SKOU" sank after a collision with the German "KARPFANGER" (5,719 gt) in fog, off Dover, U.K. on 29/3/1962.

Note: I don't remember Ove Skou ships in anything other than the company's funnel colours in NZ.

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comment

person
Well spotted P.F. Kerr.
I have previously discussed this (of another, similar image of Kirsten) with Bent Mikkelsen, one of, if not Denmark's top, shipping expert.

We discussed all known options, and still could not find a definitive answer.
Bent said that some Skou ships did time charter work for CSAV (Compagnie Sud Americano de Vapores) of Chile and Lauritzen.
Without a full-on shot of the funnel, we may never know.
I still have an awful lot of slides to view and scan, so the answer may be revealed in due course.
The slides are all mixed up, so I am not tackling them in any chronological order.

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person
The red on the funnel tells me she's chartered to some other company.

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person
Yes Pieter, I blame Volker!!!
hahah ;-)

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person
Thanks again Rick, and all of this because of the first comment to this photograph...which proved to mean something rather different from what you would expect after superficial reading.

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person
Marcin, great links! Thanks.

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person
.... and I still didn't accurately answer your question Pieter!
There are precious few 'general cargo ships' around today. There is no definitive answer, but as shipping companies are operated to squeeze every last cent of revenue from their ships, the overall answer has to be yes, a reduction in time for crew to go ashore.
The busiest time of all for ship and crew, is often in port.

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person
Pieter, time allowance for crew shore leave was never a priority.
The ship's schedule was always paramount. As for any form of commercial transport, if it isn't moving, it is isn't earning.

Shore leave was allowed IF you had the time. It was never a right.

Clearly, in the past some general cargo ships spent a lot of time in ports, and it followed that crew had the opportunity to go ashore.
Equally clearly is the fact that as ships became larger, terminals moved to the outskirts - no better example than Europort- and crews reduced, ISPS was introduced, putting more work on the already reduced crews. i.e. permanent gangway watch in port. No walking within ports - authorized transport only.
Terminals (and indeed, countries such as the USA) who are uninterested in assisting crews to go ashore).
So, it has generally become more and more difficult for crews to spend any meaningful time ashore.
There will always be exception to the rule.
Extended port stays due to loading/discharging issues.
Machinery issues. Layovers and so on.

I recall that years ago, in your ECT terminal, no shore leave is allowed in any case. There is no crew transport available in the terminal and not even telephones on the quayside for crew to use. (Ok things have changed in that regard, and most crew have smartphones). But it showed the unwillingness of Port management to allow crew ashore. They, the crew, are just a burden to any terminal.
Also, I have many stories regarding ship's agents being totally disinterested in the welfare of crew passing through their hands.
And now, Covid too!
Who would be a seaman today?
Not I.

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person
Nice!
As usually in case of ships built by Nakskov Skibsværft, there are many detailed pictures here:
http://arkiv.dk/vis/5020265
http://arkiv.dk/soeg?searchstring=kirsten+skou%2C+m%2Fs%2C+171

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person
Rick, that is what has changed, the number of people, but as I suggested in my first comment for the crews of general cargo ships, would the port time have been reduced as well to allow crew to go on shore for pleasure? You may be able to tell that from first hand experience.

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person
Hi Pieter, tanker crews also changed in line with modern practices, automation, and better reliability (generally speaking) with all equipment on a ship. Paint and paintwork application too.
In 1980, for example, crews on Shell tankers were quite literally halved.
At that time I was predominantly working on 32,000 dwt product tankers, with the occasional VLCC thrown in for good measure.
Negotiations between company and unions (and who knows else?) resulted in our ship's standard complements being reduced from 44 to 22/23 overnight.
Obviously, ships built with accommodation for the former number, became 'ghost' ships in the accommodation.
I could go on; but as you know, after bunker costs, crewing is the second most expensive item for operating a ship.
C'est la vie.
Regards, Rick

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person
Volker, would that also be a valid statement for the crews of tankers? Their logistics did not change much over the past 50 years or so.

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person
Today's sailors probably can't even name the painting of the Rigging and Tooling. It is certainly not known what is hidden under the tarpaulins that cover the cargo hold hatches. Steel, transverse beams (I don't know the English name), thick oak boards, layers of heavy tarpaulin, steel ropes, straps, shackles, wedges ... I remember that the preparation of a large general cargo (five holds, loading booms and hatches covered as in the photo) sometimes it took more than 24 hours to go to sea. The same goes for preparing the ship for port operations after mooring.
This explains the reason why the deck crew of a cargo ship with a load capacity of 10,000DWT was sometimes even 15-16 people - not counting officers, assistants, and apprentices.
The good old days . We spent several weeks in the ports (especially in Asian or African ports. There was time for everything: work, visiting exotic places and all the entertainment that we didn't boast about to our families.
Thanks for sharing.
Best wishes .

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person
...have a look at the hatchcovers: opening and closing them wasn´t always fun....
BR Jürgen

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person
Hello Pieter.That,s exactly what I mean.We had better days than the sailors today.Best wishes to you my friend and stay healthy.Volker

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person
Volker did you say that because in those times ships actually went to a city port in stead of a terminal and stayed there sufficient days for the crew to go onshore and have some fun?

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person
When ships were ships!!

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